Today Simms was still at it, did not back off his comments, and added a few names to the list.

Simms says Eli is not an elite quarterback, and according to the New York Daily News, neither is Dan Marino, Warren Moon, Or Dan Fouts.

“I still said it,” Simms told the Boomer & Carton morning show. “You know, when I got done I could’ve said ‘You know, let’s redo that,’ because at that time we were taping a little segment. But I do stand by how I meant it.”

“You know, it makes headlines, but we’re splitting hairs here,” Simms said. “I get it asked all the time, ‘Is so-and-so elite?’ And I go ‘Oh my gosh, please, somebody stick a needle in my eye.’ I’m just tired of answering it and hearing it.

“So I said it. Sorry it’s causing a little firestorm, but that’s the context I said it in.”

Simms contends that the term elite, is a new age word, is thrown around to often, and should be used with really high standards.

“‘Elite,’ it’s a new word in the football vocabulary. It really is,” Simms said. “It’s this new thing. I don’t remember hearing it 25-30 years ago. With the way it’s talked about now, Dan Marino was not elite, Warren Moon was never elite, Dan Fouts was not elite. Even though they went to the Hall of Fame, they’re not elite.

“So my thing was, when I think of ‘elite’ I think of great accomplishments with unusual, very good, incredible skills on the field. I didn’t even think about who it would be when I was saying it. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and I think Aaron Rodgers kind of fits in that mode. And the rest we’ll see about.”

Ouch Phil Simms just went hard in the paint.

I give him credit for speaking his mind.

To his credit he also knows his football. In my opinion, Fouts, Marino, and Moon were really good quarterbacks and human stat monsters.

Eli Manning shouldn’t worry about being elite. He wins championships. He’s a leader of men, and most importantly, in the words of the great Herm Edwards.